New and frustrated.

Arise · 08-29-2009, 04:33 PM

First, a little introduction. I never know what to say in these, so I'll just ramble about my goals. :P

I lost about 60 pounds in 2008 just eating right, and then went through a very stressful period of my life and gained about 30 back. I went back on low carb because that's what the household's doing and it's convenient. I've tried it before, but I'm thinking I've never stuck with it long enough to see real results. I'm beginning to wonder if I can even lose anything on this diet, though...

I've been doing low carb for about a month now, but I just joined the forums recently, but haven't really done anything with my account until today. Anyway my boyfriend and father have both been doing it with me. I try to stay at about 25 carbs maximum, went on induction probably a little longer than I should have, not really entirely intentionally. Just that low carb items were what was around the house to eat.

I've been using the Ketosis sticks. They don't make a lot of sense to me. It jumps a lot from "small" to "moderate", and I don't even know what that's supposed to mean. How about a nice yes or no? Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm in ketosis. The square was pretty dark for awhile there but suddenly got light, and I KNOW I haven't been eating that many carbs. This happened literally overnight, and I somehow gained 2 pounds. My boyfriend and dad have both lost at least 10 pounds, I think my dad even more, and I'm kinda bobbing at about 8 pounds, if even that. Worse yet, I think all that was just water weight. I was ranting to my family earlier and my mom just kinda cooly said "Women lose weight slower than men." This may be true, but I've heard success stories of women losing weight on this diet quickly. :( So I really don't think it's just because I'm a girl.

I don't really know what to do. I'm at a loss. I try to ask my dad for advice and he just keeps saying "hang in there, it'll happen, nobody has ever not lost weight on this, it just may take up to 6 weeks". At first he said 4, and this is my 4th week, then suddenly he said that it can be 5 or 6. I'm just really frustrated and confused.

I do try to make sure to exercise at least 3 or 4 times a week, and I do a lot of moving at my job. I wasn't doing the exercise thing before because I was constantly exhausted but these days I have at least a little more energy and I'm sleeping better, but my work was still making me move a lot so I haven't been totally inactive in months. My pants are fitting better but I can't tell if they're still getting looser even after a few weeks. It's still discouraging to not see the number change on the scale. I'm about 10 pounds away from being able to have insurance, and unfortunately to an insurance company it doesn't really matter how loose your pants get if the number on the scale doesn't change.

I'm done whining now, lol. Really.

Anyway, since I am new, hello to everyone~ I'm hoping I can find the strength to stick to this diet and that it starts working for real one day, so that I can maybe stick around and get to know some of you.

EDIT: ..I think I posted this in the wrong forum. Maybe this should have gone in the forum at the very top? I think I'm blind or something, haha.

suzanna1 · 08-29-2009, 04:42 PM

Arise ~ Welcome!

8 pounds in one month sounds good to me! I stalled out after the first couple of weeks of the diet, but kept with it and the scale eventually started moving again.

As far as ketosis is concerned, I believe that you either are or aren't in ketosis. If the stick changes color, "hooray!" The color could be darker if you are dehydrated. If you are exercising, you may not show ketosis at all on the stick, but be in it, because your body burns ketones for energy (I think!)

What is your menu like? I recommend using mydailyplate.com or fitday.com to record your food intake. It may give you some insight into why the scale is or is not moving.

tomswife · 08-29-2009, 04:48 PM

Hi Arise,
Welcome to the forum. You might get more responses on the forum up top. Not sure though ;-) My advice would be to pick a plan and then read up on it. What is your menu like? Maybe post a typical day and I can help that way.

2big4mysize · 08-29-2009, 06:06 PM

welcome to LCFs
what are you eating. you mentioned low carb things were in the houseI hope those are not frankenfood low carb things like desserts muffins candies excertera and you are getting your carbs from the healthy low glycemic veggies we are supposed to be eating as part of our Atkins.

It is perfectly normal for any body on any weight loss plan to have a slight hesitation in scale weight numbers after their inital loss. Atkinseers even have a nic for it called PISS.
Check your measurements and watch the inches of body fat being burned off even when the scales don't validate the hard work you are doing.

Print us a few menus and we can see if you need a little tweaking. Are you monitoring your foods on one of the free online sits like fitday or daily plate? you can check your nutrtion on the fitday reports and be sure you are not deficient in a vit and/or mineral cause some of them can slow or even stop weight loss. Since it is hard to get all needed vits and minerals from the limited induction food lists are you supplementing?

what are you doing for your exerice? are you doing the best you can each time and not just going through the motions with one eye on the clock and one foot firmly on the floor?

also being female TOM can slow scale weight numbers too so if TOM is due then that could be your issue.

peanutte · 08-30-2009, 07:00 PM

Hi and welcome, Arise!

Hey, if you are thinking about adding some foods in according to the carb ladder, please come over to the OWL thread and join us...it is not some kind of "one size fits all" mentality, and it is all an extended experiment that we deal with individually as we continue losing weight beyond Induction.

Thanks for your honesty regarding your frustrations. I don't use the sticks and I personally don't see the point in bothering with them. If you eat according to plan, you will lose weight, although some weeks will be more satisfying than others in that respect.

08-29-2009, 04:33 PM	#1
Arise Junior LCF Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 1 Gallery: Arise Stats: 222/210/145	New and frustrated. First, a little introduction. I never know what to say in these, so I'll just ramble about my goals. :P I lost about 60 pounds in 2008 just eating right, and then went through a very stressful period of my life and gained about 30 back. I went back on low carb because that's what the household's doing and it's convenient. I've tried it before, but I'm thinking I've never stuck with it long enough to see real results. I'm beginning to wonder if I can even lose anything on this diet, though... I've been doing low carb for about a month now, but I just joined the forums recently, but haven't really done anything with my account until today. Anyway my boyfriend and father have both been doing it with me. I try to stay at about 25 carbs maximum, went on induction probably a little longer than I should have, not really entirely intentionally. Just that low carb items were what was around the house to eat. I've been using the Ketosis sticks. They don't make a lot of sense to me. It jumps a lot from "small" to "moderate", and I don't even know what that's supposed to mean. How about a nice yes or no? Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm in ketosis. The square was pretty dark for awhile there but suddenly got light, and I KNOW I haven't been eating that many carbs. This happened literally overnight, and I somehow gained 2 pounds. My boyfriend and dad have both lost at least 10 pounds, I think my dad even more, and I'm kinda bobbing at about 8 pounds, if even that. Worse yet, I think all that was just water weight. I was ranting to my family earlier and my mom just kinda cooly said "Women lose weight slower than men." This may be true, but I've heard success stories of women losing weight on this diet quickly. :( So I really don't think it's just because I'm a girl. I don't really know what to do. I'm at a loss. I try to ask my dad for advice and he just keeps saying "hang in there, it'll happen, nobody has ever not lost weight on this, it just may take up to 6 weeks". At first he said 4, and this is my 4th week, then suddenly he said that it can be 5 or 6. I'm just really frustrated and confused. I do try to make sure to exercise at least 3 or 4 times a week, and I do a lot of moving at my job. I wasn't doing the exercise thing before because I was constantly exhausted but these days I have at least a little more energy and I'm sleeping better, but my work was still making me move a lot so I haven't been totally inactive in months. My pants are fitting better but I can't tell if they're still getting looser even after a few weeks. It's still discouraging to not see the number change on the scale. I'm about 10 pounds away from being able to have insurance, and unfortunately to an insurance company it doesn't really matter how loose your pants get if the number on the scale doesn't change. I'm done whining now, lol. Really. Anyway, since I am new, hello to everyone~ I'm hoping I can find the strength to stick to this diet and that it starts working for real one day, so that I can maybe stick around and get to know some of you. EDIT: ..I think I posted this in the wrong forum. Maybe this should have gone in the forum at the very top? I think I'm blind or something, haha. Last edited by Arise; 08-29-2009 at 04:36 PM.. Reason: Wrong forum? Oh well.

08-29-2009, 06:06 PM	#4
2big4mysize Big Yapper!!!! Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 7,505 Gallery: 2big4mysize Stats: 313 to current goalie 169-173 WOE: Atkins 2002 Start Date: june 1 2002	welcome to LCFs what are you eating. you mentioned low carb things were in the houseI hope those are not frankenfood low carb things like desserts muffins candies excertera and you are getting your carbs from the healthy low glycemic veggies we are supposed to be eating as part of our Atkins. It is perfectly normal for any body on any weight loss plan to have a slight hesitation in scale weight numbers after their inital loss. Atkinseers even have a nic for it called PISS. Check your measurements and watch the inches of body fat being burned off even when the scales don't validate the hard work you are doing. Print us a few menus and we can see if you need a little tweaking. Are you monitoring your foods on one of the free online sits like fitday or daily plate? you can check your nutrtion on the fitday reports and be sure you are not deficient in a vit and/or mineral cause some of them can slow or even stop weight loss. Since it is hard to get all needed vits and minerals from the limited induction food lists are you supplementing? what are you doing for your exerice? are you doing the best you can each time and not just going through the motions with one eye on the clock and one foot firmly on the floor? also being female TOM can slow scale weight numbers too so if TOM is due then that could be your issue. __________________ 5/04 goalie Hashimoto hypothyroid diagnoised 02 kimkins info 2BIG's BLOG Memeber of LCFs before 2006? Please click here to help with the kimkins case

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08-29-2009, 04:42 PM	#2
suzanna1 Senior LCF Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 319 Gallery: suzanna1 Stats: 215/137/140 5'8" 32 years old WOE: Atkins ~ Maintenance	Arise ~ Welcome! 8 pounds in one month sounds good to me! I stalled out after the first couple of weeks of the diet, but kept with it and the scale eventually started moving again. As far as ketosis is concerned, I believe that you either are or aren't in ketosis. If the stick changes color, "hooray!" The color could be darker if you are dehydrated. If you are exercising, you may not show ketosis at all on the stick, but be in it, because your body burns ketones for energy (I think!) What is your menu like? I recommend using mydailyplate.com or fitday.com to record your food intake. It may give you some insight into why the scale is or is not moving.

08-29-2009, 04:48 PM	#3
tomswife MAJOR LCF POSTER! Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Elgin, Oregon Posts: 1,295 Gallery: tomswife Stats: 251/180/120 WOE: Atkins Start Date: June 2008	Hi Arise, Welcome to the forum. You might get more responses on the forum up top. Not sure though ;-) My advice would be to pick a plan and then read up on it. What is your menu like? Maybe post a typical day and I can help that way.

08-30-2009, 07:00 PM	#5
peanutte Blabbermouth!!! Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 5,899 Gallery: peanutte Stats: 212 (before Atkins)/188 (Jan.'09)/136.2/140 WOE: Atkins Pre-Maintenance Start Date: 01/03/09	Hi and welcome, Arise! Hey, if you are thinking about adding some foods in according to the carb ladder, please come over to the OWL thread and join us...it is not some kind of "one size fits all" mentality, and it is all an extended experiment that we deal with individually as we continue losing weight beyond Induction. Thanks for your honesty regarding your frustrations. I don't use the sticks and I personally don't see the point in bothering with them. If you eat according to plan, you will lose weight, although some weeks will be more satisfying than others in that respect.